Welcome to our May newsletter.

We see the psychology behind being emotionally moved and how imagination is as influential on us as reality.

What does your typing style say about you?

And you know when someone has some spinach in their teeth and you don't know whether to tell them or not? We have scientific insights on when people want feedback.

Don't forget we're here to help. From improving your marketing with psychology and data to making your communications more persuasive. Tell us what you're trying to do and we'll show you how we can help.

Every so often we use our Monkey Business newsletter to share useful nuggets, opinions, and findings as food for thought. Sign up here.

What does it mean to be moved?

This very comprehensive paper found that it's a combination of joy and sadness often accompanied by chills or tears.

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto

It also tends to be something that happens to you and amplifies your identity and group norms. It's more likely, the study suggests, to happen to open or agreeable people.

Image: Menninghaus et al

What your typing says about you.

A new study confirms a correlation between a person's typing and clicking behavior and their stress levels. The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Cambridge and ETH Zurich, who analyzed keystrokes and mouse clicks from computer users in a laboratory setting.

The study found that individuals who were under stress tended to type faster and with less precision than those who were not stressed. The researchers used machine learning algorithms to analyse the data and accurately detect stress levels in the participants.

This research has significant implications for workplaces, as it could potentially be used to develop tools to monitor employee stress levels and improve workplace wellness programs. 

However, the article notes that such technology raises concerns about privacy and surveillance in the workplace, and warns of the ethical considerations that must be taken into account.

This study is the first to provide scientific confirmation of the correlation and it opens up new avenues for research into using technology to customise experiences, monitor and improve workplace wellness, as well as offering new insights into our colleagues, of course.
 

Photo by Ron Lach

Do people want feedback? TLDR: probably yes.

People are hesitant to offer feedback, even though they would want it themselves. This is because they underestimate how much others want feedback, especially in "consequential situations". That’s the finding from Nicole Abi-Esber and Juliana Schroeder.

In one study, researchers sent research assistants around a college campus with chocolate smudged across their mouth to see how many people would spontaneously let them know. Only 2.6% of people did so.

“Our studies suggest that people want our feedback more than we realize”, they explain.

“In almost every situation, we found that people underestimated others’ desire for feedback. And the more consequential the situation, the more people underestimated the desire for feedback”.

Photo by Cottonbro

The researchers found that two interventions can help people be more accurate in predicting how much others want feedback:

• Perspective-taking: Imagine what you would want if you were the potential feedback-receiver.

• Asking: Simply ask the person if they would like feedback.

Useful insights for business and our everyday lives.

Image: Abi-Esber et. al (2022)

Imagination is as influential as reality

Fascinating study from UCL, concluding that "when virtual or imagined signals are strong enough, they become subjectively indistinguishable from reality".

This of course has enormous implications in a world of AI and VR, and perhaps even suggests that new political paradigms will be less left-right and more fantasy-reality.

After WWII, psychoanalyst Joost Meerloo wrote, "Once fear has penetrated the mind and stimulated fantasy, it begins to direct our actions, whether we want it to or not."
 

Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán

As ever, if there's anything we can help with, do get in touch.

James, Patrick and Dan

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We practically apply the science of the human mind for hard, commercial results 

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